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Adapting to changes in commitment... a one way street in recruitment?

21/06/26

Recently, I had an unpleasant experience with a recruiting company. Recruiters in clinical reasearch are often reached out to, when there is a need in personnel that requires an immediate solution in form of hiring a freelance worker in order to fill that identified gap. In many cases, this means short time to onboard and get started in a project as quickly as possible. In this specific case, I was handed a project, where around 10(!) visits would have been required in June onsite and a few more remote, when I started in May. May was supposed to be my onboarding time, where I agreed to work 30%, because I was limited by another project I am already on. By June, I was supposed to work 80% of my time for the new position. While 10 visits can never be covered with 80% working time, everyone in clinical research should be aware of this fact.

However, onboarding was not going ideally, from a technical point of view and from the practical kind of view. I won´t go into details, but the situation was not very satisfying. During a Study Meeting from the other client, who I was and am still working for, I learned that timelines for that project had shifted and the expectation was now, that the study will be completed by August, what meant, that the visits I would still need to do, would have to be done in a much shorter period than previously anticipated. The project was initially planned to last until November. So much more work would have to fit into much less time than expected.

In addition, I have a health issue, that requires some attention and potentially a surgery in the near future, which I learned about around the same time. So I called my contact person at the newly acquired client and explained my situation with the other client (I did not say anything about the health issue, as it is not yet clear how this will be handled) and we mutually decided to part ways, as they would need support mostly in June and July. We parted on good terms. I was not knowing at the time of signing up with them, that these changes were coming, and they require someone who can focus on their needs.

After speaking with the client, I called the recruiter, who had organized this match and explained the situation to them as well. I was upfront and honest and got a dry reply which sticks with me still.

Recruiter:“And you definetely could not see this coming?“

Me: „No, I am sorry, I didn´t“

Recruiter: „So, you are preferring the other client over us?“

Me: „It´s not about preference, but I am working with this client for over a year, and I won´t let them down on the last stretch of the study“

Recruiter: „But you gave us a commitment as well“

Me: „I know, but circumstances were different then“

We ended the call. I don´t think this recruiter will ever come back to me again. It left me with the feeling they took my decision personally, while it was the best thing to do I could think of, knowing I would not be able to accomodate the needs of both clients. While I know, that the recruiter will also not get the assignment fee they would have gotten if I had gone on with the client, plus the time and effort they invested into presenting me and setting me up, I think it would have been unfair and unsatisfying, as I had already known I would not have been able to cater to both clients, if I had continued.

So, what I am asking myself is, is it better to be honest, tell your limitations and let everyone involved know what is going on or should you bite your teeth, pull through despite knowing, `this will be impossible` and potentially disappoint everyone, including yourself? And: especially recruiters know how quickly things can change and how quickly needs in a project may change, and yet, you get the answer „but you gave us a commitment, too“, when you are being transparent. Of course, I did, and I am very sorry I can´t keep it, but I rather be honest upfront instead of letting the client feel that I cannot deliver what they need and expect from their new hire.

What do you think about this? Especially from a recruiting point of view? Have you experienced things like this? How did you handle this kind of situation?

Resuming 2024

05/01/25

Completing my first full year as a freelance CRA, well almost „full“, but let´s talk about this later, is reason enough for me to reflect on the year and its ups and downs. After 2023 was such a highlight for me, because I was able to establish my independence as a freelance CRA, I was keen on continuing like that in 2024 and confident, that everything would be working just fine. But well, you know how life goes and it taught me better. Both my main clients had to end their contracts with me due to budgetary reasons prematurely. For one of these, it came out of the blue for me and having both clients cancel on me simultaneously, pulled me into a kind of desperate situation. Having been a freelancer for only a bit over a year, my savings were not big enough for me to be able to „sit it out“ until a new offer might, or might not, appear on the horizon. All in all, the second half of the year, it became quite quiet in the freelance clinical research market. After carefully considering my possibilities, I decided to get into a permanent position again with one of the clients that had previously released me and was now working with a global CRO for staffing, to streamline processes within Europe and make the countries more „comparable“.

I had enjoyed working for this client a lot, which was the main, if not the only, reason for me, to go ahead with this CRO, as I had a previous, very unpleasant experience with them before. Unfortunately, working for them the second time proved me right having left that company in the first place. I mean, in personal relationships, we are talking about red flags, and I feel they are valid for working relationships just as much. First of all, the company forgot the start date of the other colleague and me. We were starting on Monday, Dec 2nd, and the week before, about midweek, I had to send an email to the hiring manager, asking about our equipment. Because no one had reached out by then to schedule anything. It arrived the Friday before the start. On our first day, we had a call with a local European manager, who let us know, that the manager who was supposed to be ours in the future, was sick (that’s probably why they forgot about us in the first place). Another manager was supposed to be responsible for me and took this over from the sick colleague, as I was already added to his reporting line in all systems.

However, I know both companies, the Sponsor I would be working for and the CRO which was my Line Management and Employer. Therefore, everyone in the CRO seemed to expect me to know everything already and take care of everything myself. The CRO forgot to enter me in all their working systems and every time I encountered a system that I needed to use, I had to take care of getting access myself. And the question, I got asked all the time: „How about your colleague? Does she have the same problem?“ This brought me to the conclusion, that they didn´t onboard her properly either, though she was new to the client and the company. Instead, they once asked me to support her onboarding. It´s not that I don´t want to help, but how about companies doing their job onboarding two newbies? Is the new standard „newbie onboard newbie“? The experience of these first two working weeks, made me want to leave again immediately. And this was only on top of what I had gone through during the hiring process! Let me tell you about that as well.

When the recruiter first reached out to me, a certain annual compensation where car allowance and bonus would be added upon, was promised, which, in the end, wasn´t met at all in the contract draft. Speaking about that, the recruiter told me, that the initial offer was the total (annual compensation, plus car allowance plus bonus included) and that I „must have gotten this wrong“. Yes, surely. 😉 But it would still come close to that annual total. in the end, I was so desperate, because there was still no new offer on the horizon and I really wanted to work for that former client, that I agreed with the contract. I asked, if I was allowed to keep my last rather small client for a sidekick, but even that was declined without gathering any further information on what I was doing.

During the hiring process, after the contract was signed, a background check was performed by a third party. I remembered it from the last time I was working for respective CRO, but not, how badly this really was conducted. The agreement I had to sign, stated, that I allowed respective third party to reach out to previous employers and clients to confirm my details on working duration and experiences /tasks. The past year, when I was a freelancer, it was quite complicated to prove, as I was never given a resignation letter. So for all my clients AND previous employers, the company asked me to provide the contracts I had. I was allowed to reduce personal data and everything that falls under confidentiality. Surely, I declined this and told them, that I signed for them to reach out to the companies and clients but I would not provide contracts, not even first and last pages, as requested. When providing these, the 3rd party stated they would not be able to locate the start dates and in general didn´t understand the document (it was in German, while the company was US-based). After several weeks of discussion, I got in touch with a data protection guard and asked for advice. I was told to never send any page of the contract to such a company (unless I would be working for the government) to prove my employment. If I would have to do so, I needed to get written confirmation of agreement from the other party. After I forwarded this information to the 3rd party, I was threatened that if I did not adhere to their process, my start date would have to be postponed. So basically, they asked me to disregard German law. Of course, I didn´t and escalated this to the CRO. In the end, they let me start on the agreed date.

After these experiences, two weeks were sufficient for me to decide, that this was not how I wanted to work. Even though I loved the client (Sponsor), and they hated to let me go, as they knew I was experienced with their ways of working and systems and all, after two weeks, I handed in my resignation. that was when for the first time, my manager called me and asked why I wanted to leave again. I was being straight and honest and told him everything I had written down here as well, and he apologized for not having been around more. I told him, that I totally understood, that he had so much on his plate, that it wasn´t possible for him, and really, I do understand that. But that doesn´t make it better at all, since I know it is a systemic error within the CRO. That is what I told him as well. Along with the fact that this shows me, that employees are only numbers for them and how they are seen and valued – not at all.

During the last weeks of 2024, the market became more vivid again in regards to clinical research and a few offers came in, so I decided to take a leap back (or better: forward) and decided to stay a freelancer. Having taken this decision, I felt much lighter and happier immediately and even though freelancing has its downsides, like insecurities, for me, it is, at the moment, the best way to work.

What do I take with me out of this experience to the year 2025? Don´t give up. When you realize something is good for you and helps you shine and thrive, stick with it, even it the road gets bumpy. Plus: Creating some financial reserves in order to stay calm when the air is getting thin is crucial.

So, let´s make 2025 a happy, healthy, funny, loving, peaceful, successful and enjoyable year! I am looking forward to meet and work with new people and companies with strong values, seeing lots of concerts and travelling a bit!

Happy New Year to all of you!

PS: If you find yourself looking for a reliable clinical research professional with a strong work ethic, don´t hesitate to get in touch! 🙂

The darker sides of being a CRA

05/08/24

As much as I do love my job thanks to its´ freedom, when it comes to how I create my days and organize myself, my travel, my work and my private life and time, there are days and moments, when I feel like: Why am I still doing this?! Why do I have to cope with this kind of things?

One of these days was, when I arrived at one of Germany´s biggest hospitals I needed to go to for a monitoring visit. The chair you can see on the picture was my workplace for that specific day. And yes, it was as uncomfortable as it looks. The whole room I was placed in was stuffed under the ceiling with boxes, it was dark and very oppresive. I wanted to upload a video, but the system wouldn´t let me. Hospitals participating in clinical trials sign contracts, most of them contain a passage where they guarantee CRAs an adequate working space. Now I ask you: Do you consider this adequate? Would you like to work there? Would you even accept a working place like that? I don´t think you do. Yet, hospitals expect us to do so. In some way, it shows how they value our work: not at all, as it seems. Despite all the effort we make to support, help and guide the site personnel through sometimes challenging studies, and most of us go way beyond our duties to make things work. You could say, this is because of the hospitals financial situation, but I doubt this is the reason, when I look into the room next door, which is fully equipped with several workspaces, that I would consider adequate for working, but remained empty for that day due to sickness/holiday. Don´t get me wrong, I just want to make you think, how you value other people´s work. If you are as big a hospital I am talking about, you would want to make a good impression to people who come to work with you occasionally, as they will spread word on their experiences. At least, I would say this should be part of your considerations.

This week, I will visit the same hospital and study site again. And I will ask them for an appropriate chair, as the last time, I had a severe back pain for several days. Let´s see if they can provide something more appropriate for my last visit at this site. I would be happy with a good chair, even if the room was the same as the last time. You get used to making small wishes when going to sites 😉

Taking the step and become a freelance clinical research expert

05/04/24

When I first advanced my career from being a Study Coordinator to becoming a CRA, it was in a freelance position. I immediately liked the feeling freelancing gave me, being my own boss, the keeper of my own time and setting my own pace, being more independent in my ways of working than I have ever been before. Working under my own conditions just felt right to me from the start. Due to the fact that at that time, having gained experience in the field of non-interventional studies (NIS) only – but in this field it was a lot of experience – I could not find additional clients, because I was lacking experience in interventional clinical trials. So I decided to get into a permanent position once more in order to gain this experience. But this was always with the aim, to get back to freelancing at a later timepoints.

The time was just about right when the opportunity arose in spring 2023, I grabbed it and jumped right into freelancing again. Taking this huge step was a bit scary, because it sometimes feels uncertain, but would I change it back? Not at all! I can only recommend doing what you desire, follow your heart and work in a way that is healthy for you and where the passion for what you are doing is not getting lost on the way. Would I go back into a permanent position you may ask. My answer would be: only under the right conditions, with the right people. But for now, I am happy the way things are working out for me!

Recap of my very first business trip to the US

21/02/24

Reflecting on my previous tourist trips to the US, this visit stood out as my first solo work-focused journey. My business partner, Jens Ebnet, MD, MSc, DESA, a passionate emergency doctor, provided me with a remarkable opportunity to attend the “Teaching Day Symposium of the Association for Vascular Access of Central New York.” #AVACNY. Immersing myself among dedicated nurses and industry experts committed to advancing various vascular catheters was an honor.

During discussions on the challenges linked to current US vascular catheters, I had the privilege of presenting our ongoing development, the Ebnüle® for venous access. Witnessing specialized nurses‘ genuine excitement as I unveiled the Ebnüle®’s advantages – promisingly intuitive, stable, and secure handling for successful first punctures and enhanced safety for patients and users – was truly gratifying. The innovative “decontamination box” ensures impeccable infection control, eliminating the need to touch the catheter during injection. Additionally, the specialized “insertion mechanism” guarantees precise catheter placement and needle insertion, preventing vein piercing or tissue damage. Addressing the overlooked issue of catheter kinking due to patient movement, the non-kinking catheter material signifies a breakthrough feature.

The overwhelming positive response and feedback from the nurse community affirmed the significance of need-driven product features, positioning the Ebnüle® as a genuine game-changer.

I extend my deepest appreciation to Jan Elliott BS, RN, CRNI, VA-BC, the president of #AVACNY, for graciously inviting me to showcase our product developments. Your invaluable insights will greatly contribute to refining our products before they hit the market. Personally, this visit provided profound insights into the daily challenges faced by nurses in the US. Thank you for this enlightening experience, and I eagerly look forward to reconnecting with you all next year!

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